Simon

Yes, I have a day job. I just have a thing for writing amateur book reviews throughout my reading journey.

Posts by Year

2023 34
2022 18
2021 24
2020 38
2019 13
2018 12
2017 11
2016 6
2015 13
2014 12
2013 19
2012 35
2011 27

2023

The Wolf Review

The Wolf by Leo Carew is the first of three books in the Under the Northern Sky series. In this dark political fantasy, the Sutherners are pitted against the...

The Southern Lawyer Review

The Southern Lawyer by Peter O’Mahoney is book one of four in the Joe Hennessy Legal Thriller Series. This was a great introductory novel into Joe Hennessy, ...

Please Tell Me Review

Please Tell Me by Mike Osmer is a psychological thriller novel about a little girl who was captured for more than a year, having finally escaped her captors....

A Memory Called Empire Review

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine is the first book of two in the Teixcalaan series. As a science fiction that won the 2020 Hugo Award for best novel,...

The Sunlit Man Review

The Sunlit Man by Brandon Sanderson is the fourth and final standalone novel in his Secret Projects series. I’ve had the impression that the best will be ser...

Children of God Review

Children of God by Mary Doria Russell is book two in The Sparrow series. It follows immediately after the events of The Sparrow. While The Sparrow ended with...

The Sparrow Review

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell is book one of two in the Sparrow series. At around 500 pages, this is a long one, but fortunately, readers can treat it as...

The Redemption of Time Review

The Redemption of Time by Baoshu is the fourth and final novel in the Three-Body Problem series. This is an interesting novel in that it was written by a fan...

The Fifth Sun Review

The Fifth Sun by Camilla Townsend offers readers a detailed look into the lives of the people we termed the “Aztecs” pre- and post-Spanish conquest. The auth...

The Spy and the Traitor Review

The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre details the extraordinary story of one of the most important Russian spy in history. There’s always the saying that ...

Hidden Pictures Review

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak is a horror mystery novel that aims to bring the chills through the mysterious and sinister drawings of an innocent five-yea...

We Have Always Lived in the Castle Review

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson is what many consider to be a classic gothic tale. I dove into the book without any pretense or knowled...

What My Bones Know Review

What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo is a deep look at complex PTSD and how it can affect not just the individual but everyone around them as well. It’s kind ...

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter Review

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson is book number 3 of 4 in his Secret Projects series. After the dud that was The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook ...

The Frugal Wizard’s Guide for Surviving Medieval England Review

The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson is book number 2 of 4 in his Secret Projects series. For something that is e...

Translation State Review

DISCLAIMER: I did not complete the book and have stopped at the 80% mark. Translation State by Ann Leckie is standalone novel in her popular Imperial Radch ...

All the Sinners Bleed Review

All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Crosby is an amazing mystery thriller. It seems like it’s the season for crime and mystery novels because I’ve gotten more reco...

The Malevolent Seven Review

The Malevolent Seven by Sebastien de Castell is a dark fantasy novel about antiheroes who hilariously are put in a position to save the mortal realm. Let’s g...

The Light on Farallon Island Review

The Light on Farallon Island by Jen Wheeler is the author’s debut historical fiction novel set on a tiny island thirty miles off the coast of San Francisco. ...

The Ferryman Review

The Ferryman by Justin Cronin is a post apocalyptic utopian/dystopian science fiction novel. I haven’t read anything from the author since The Twelve was pub...

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder Review

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann goes over one of Britain history’s most brutal and ever forgotten shipwreck disaster during ...

Behind the Beautiful Forevers Review

Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo gives a horrifying look inside one of Mumbai India’s most poverty-stricken slums. Prepare yourselves for sadne...

The God of Endings Review

The God of Endings by Jacqueline Holland is one of the most beautiful yet sad novel I’ve had the pleasure of reading since I can remember. The thought of bei...

The Mimicking of Known Successes Review

The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older is a novella set on the planet of what we can only assume is Jupiter and aptly named Giant. If you’re looking...

Gunmetal Gods Review

Gunmetal Gods by Zamil Akhtar is book one in the Gunmetal Gods Saga trilogy set. I came across this series via a Reddit recommendation as well as the cover u...

A Day of Fallen Night Review

DISCLAIMER: I did not complete the book and have stopped at the 63% mark. A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon is a standalone prequel to her wildly po...

Stardust in their Veins Review

Stardust in their Veins by Laura Sebastian is book two in the trilogy set. The author wastes no time in getting right back on track from where Castles in the...

Castles in their Bones Review

Castle in their Bones by Laura Sebastian is the first book in the trilogy series. Conscripted even before their births by their empress mother, triplets Soph...

The Terraformers Review

The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz is a speculative science fiction novel set in the far, far future on a planet called Sask-E. This is a weird one. I love t...

Tress of the Emerald Sea Review

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson is a new standalone novel and is the first book out of a series of four in his Secret Projects series. Having p...

Torn Review

Torn by Rowenna Miller is a political fantasy novel and is the first of three in The Unraveled Kingdom series. I had a fairly decent time reading this from s...

Artificial Condition Review

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells is book two in The Murderbot Diaries. It’s back! Our favorite media-watching, human-hating/loving-but-can’t-do-anything-...

On the Beach Review

On the Beach by Nevil Shute is about as depressing of a novel as I can ever remember reading in a very long time. Set in a post-1960s apocalyptic world, a nu...

The Light Pirate Review

The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton is a novel set in the near future where hurricanes ravage the southern state of Florida to the point where it becomes ...

2022

Cursed Bunny Review

Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung is a series of short fiction stories dipped in demented and strange horror. While I rarely read horror fiction by American authors...

The Redemption of Althalus Review

The Redemption of Althalus by David and Leigh Eddings is a standalone high fantasy novel that is heavy in dialogue and one that is a lot longer in length tha...

American Prison Review

American Prison: A Reporter’s Undercover Journey into the Business of Punishment by Shane Bauer is as pretty self-explanatory of a title as it gets. A brave ...

The Grief of Stones Review

The Grief of Stones by Katherine Addison is book two in The Cemeteries of Amalo series. This series is pretty interesting in that it can be considered highly...

Black Sun Review

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse is book one of two in the Between Earth and Sky series. Right off the bat, I had fairly high hopes for this one. It was listed...

Unconquerable Sun Review

DISCLAIMER: I did not complete the book and have stopped at the 40% mark. Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott is book one of two in The Sun Chronicles. I was ...

Three Assassins Review

Three Assassins by Kotaro Isaka is a novel set in modern Japan revolving around, well, assassins. It’s billed as a quirky and fun read but I was left fairly ...

The Mountain in the Sea Review

The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler is a scientific thriller set in the far future. It’s amazing to see a world transformed so much by technology yet the q...

Fairy Tale Review

DISCLAIMER: I did not complete the book and have stopped at the 60% mark. Fairy Tale by Stephen King is his latest dark fantasy novel. I was not able to sto...

All The Lies They Did Not Tell Review

All the Lies They Did Not Tell by Pablo Trincia is an investigative journey that tries to make sense of the phenomenon that triggered multiple kids to be sep...

How High We Go in the Dark Review

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu is a tragic novel that weaves many stories and characters together through time. The bleak setting leaves the...

Dead Silence Review

Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes is a horror sci-fi novel in space that is being compared if the Titanic meets The Shining. Fans of claustrophobic horror settings...

Power and Thrones: A New History of the Middle Ages Review

Powers and Thrones: A New History of the Middle Ages by Dan Jones is what I’d consider a “brief” tour of a period in civilization historians have coined the ...

The Book of Cold Cases Review

The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James is a standalone crime and mystery novel sprinkled with some paranormal activity. Goodreads was celebrating Mystery...

The Watchers Review

The Watchers by A.M. Shine is the author’s debut horror novel. The premise of the story got me captivated almost immediately. I’ve always loved stories where...

The Maid Review

The Maid by Nita Prose is a heartwarming novel about a hotel maid with a very peculiar outlook on life becoming the prime witness to a mystery murder at the ...

Wolf’s Head, Wolf’s Heart Review

Wolf’s Head, Wolf’s Heart by Jane Lindskold is the second book in the Firekeeper saga. I had a pretty decent time with Through Wolf’s Eye and was pretty curi...

Through Wolf’s Eyes Review

Through Wolf’s Eyes by Jane Lindskold is the first book in her Firekeeper Saga. My ever constant need to search for awesome adult fantasy novels and series t...

2021

Midnight in Chernobyl Review

Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham retells the stunning and horrific nuclear accident, one of the worst ever in history, of Chernobyl. There are time...

Mao’s Great Famine Review

Mao’s Great Famine by Frank Dikotter is book two in The People’s Trilogy. This is the original topic that got me interested in researching more about this so...

The Tragedy of Liberation Review

The Tragedy of Liberation by Frank Dikotter is chronologically book one of three in his People’s Trilogy set. After having read the history of China by John ...

China: A History Review

China: A History by John Keay details the rich history of this mighty country from its beginning at around 2000 BC up to the Cultural Revolution in 1966. Alt...

The Sword of Kaigen Review

The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang is a Japanese inspired military fantasy novel. I haven’t read the author’s previous works but The Sword of Kaigen did very w...

The Dead and the Dark Review

The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould is a paranormal thriller novel and the author’s debut. It has been a while since I’ve read a YA novel but it peaked m...

Thrawn Treason Review

Thrawn: Treason by Timothy Zahn is book three and the final of the Thrawn Trilogy set. After loving the first but being underwhelmed with the second, I’m loo...

We Have Always Been Here Review

We Have Always Been Here by debut author Lena Nguyen is an absolute stunner! This young lady hit it right out of the park on her first try. Elbow drop from t...

Thrawn Alliances Review

Thrawn: Alliances by Timothy Zahn is book number 2 in the trilogy set. While I had some fun with the first book, with what getting to know more about Thrawn ...

The Witness for the Dead Review

The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison can be considered book two in her Goblin Emperor series. However, this book can be considered standalone as wel...

Madhouse at the End of the Earth Review

Madhouse at the End of the Earth by Julian Sancton retells the journey of brave and adventurous sailors attempt to put Belgium forever on the map of historic...

A Master of Djinn Review

A Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark is the author’s first full length novel debut. After having read his previous short story of which this novel is based on...

Black Water Sister Review

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho is a contemporary urban fantasy novel set in Malaysia. With Jess being able to hear her dead grandmother voice in her head, her...

Project Hail Mary Review

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir is the newest novel from the author who brought you Martian. It’s very simple. If you loved Martian, read this novel. If you e...

Find You First Review

Find You First by Linwood Barclay is a psychological thriller about a very wealthy man in a race against time to find his biological children to learn if the...

The Councillor Review

The Councillor by E.J. Beaton is the first book in The Councillor series and is a debut of the author. Being hailed as a political fantasy thriller filled wi...

Klara and the Sun Review

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro is a novel based on an artificial robot learning and navigating the complicated and wide range of human emotions and feel...

We Shall Sing a Song Into the Deep Review

We Shall Sing a Song into the Deep by Andrew Kelly Steward is a short science fiction and post apocalyptic novel. With the entire story taking place within a...

Later Review

Later by Stephen King is the latest novel from the master storyteller. It saddens me to say that this is the biggest disappointment read of 2021 so far. This...

Thrawn Review

Star Wars: Thrawn by Timothy Zahn is the first book in the Thrawn trilogy. While I’m not a hardcore Star Wars fan, I thought I knew more than your average Jo...

The Traitor Baru Comorant Review

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson is the first book in The Masquerade trilogy set. I’ll admit that this is my second run at the book having droppe...

The House of a Hundred Whispers Review

The House of a Hundred Whispers by Graham Masterton can be what you would consider your classic haunted house horror story/mystery. I’m not exactly into horr...

Light of the Jedi Review

Star Wars: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule is the first book of two in The High Republic series. Set even before the events of Episode 1: The Phantom Mena...

The Arctic Fury Review

The Arctic Fury by Greer Macallister details the fictional account of an all woman crew sent on an arctic expedition over uncharted waters to discover the fa...

2020

The Midnight Library Review

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig is a novel about a girl with her multitude of regrets in life but ultimately granted a second chance to undo them by choosi...

In the Heart of the Sea Review

In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick retells the true story of how a sperm whale rammed a whaleship in the early 1800’s and caused one of the most ...

Unnatural Life Review

An Unnatural Life by Erin Wagner is a quick read about a robot AI having been convicted of murdering a human on a remote planet colony. This theme has obviou...

Paladin of Souls Review

Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold is technically book two in the Chalion series. However, like the first book, The Curse of Chalion, Paladin of Souls ...

The Curse of Chalion Review

The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold is a political fantasy novel that should please a lot of readers looking for something more slower paced. This i...

Hench Review

Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots is a novel set in a world where superheroes and villains collide with one another vying for control and to, well, duke it out...

Battle Cry of Freedom Review

Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson is an authoritative book on The Civil War between the years of 1861-1865. It is in fact one of the books listed in t...

The Wrath of Darth Maul Review

The Wrath of Darth Maul by Ryder Windham details the life of Darth Maul from when he was just a kid up to the point of his demise in the Phantom Menace. If y...

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars Review

WARNING: I’ve managed to complete about 40% of this novel before quitting. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini is a new science fiction epic n...

Joan - The Mysterious Life of the Heretic Who Became a Saint Review

Joan: The Mysterious Life of the Heretic Who Became a Saint by Donald Spoto tells the story of Joan of Arc in great details. If you are looking for one book ...

The Lesson Review

The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull is a speculative science fiction novel revolving an alien race “arriving” and setting up shop on the US Virgin Islands. If som...

The Vanished Birds Review

The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez is a science fiction debut novel that revolves around the meaning of time and space travel. We follow a very small ship w...

The Empire of Gold Review

The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty is the third and final installment in The Daevabad trilogy. I just want to know just what the heck happened here?! How...

Lifemarked Review

Lifemarked by David Estes is the fifth and final book in his Fatemarked epic fantasy series. After having read thousands of pages, we are finally here at the...

Darth Maul - Saboteur Review

Darth Maul – Saboteur by James Luceno is a short story detailing a quick mission taken by Darth Sidious’s young apprentice, Darth Maul, prior to the events o...

Deathmarked Review

Deathmarked by David Estes is the fourth book in his Fatemarked series. I’ve been preoccupied with other books but finally found the time to continue with th...

Darth Plagueis Review

Darth Plagueis by James Luceno is a Star Wars novel dedicated to the rise to power of Sith lords Plagueis and Sidious. There’s always two sides to a story as...

Queen’s Peril Review

Queen’s Peril by E.K. Johnston details the events of Padme’s life leading up and into the events of The Phantom Menace. I have to say that I wasn’t too parti...

Summer Frost Review

Summer Frost by Blake Couch is book two of six in the Forward Collection. Book one, Ark, was mediocre at best but Summer Frost blew it away by miles. Althoug...

Master & Apprentice Review

Master & Apprentice by Claudia Gray is one of the first chronological books in the Star Wars canon universe within the prequel era. I saw that many revie...

Lords of the Sith Review

Star Wars: Lords of the Sith by Paul S. Kemp is one of my first dive into the Star Wars canon universe and boy was it a great pick! Everyone obviously knows ...

Ark Review

Ark by Veronica Roth is book one of six in the Forward collection. This collection of short stories from six well known authors revolves around the theme of ...

Soulmarked Review

Soulmarked by David Estes is book three of five in his Fatemarked epic series. I’m glad in a way to make it past the halfway mark of this series. With two mo...

Truthmarked Review

Truthmarked by David Estes is book two of five in his Fatemarked epic series. I had a pretty good time with Fatemarked but wanted to quickly see how the foll...

All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries Review

All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries is book one of six in Martha Well’s Murderbot series. Let me begin by saying that I can’t remember the last time I lit...

If It Bleeds Review

If It Bleeds by Stephen King is a collection of four short novellas. To put it mildly, majority of these were just not good at all. Not only were they disapp...

Fatemarked Review

Fatemarked by David Estes is the first of five in his Fatemarked Epic series. Something special is definitely happening here and Fatemarked serves as an exce...

A Question of Faith: A Castle Federation Novella Review

A Question of Faith: A Castle Federation Novella by Glynn Stewart is a short read based on his larger Castle Federation series, which spans six books. I hadn...

Voices of the Void Review

Voices of the Void by David V. Stewart is a short story involving a space mercenary that has some serious vision issues! I came across this author after havi...

Gideon the Ninth Review

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir is the first in The Locked Tomb trilogy. Having been a fan of necromancers in video games and stories ever since I could reme...

The Kingdom of Copper Review

The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty is the second book in her Daevabad Trilogy set. I thought I would be able to wait until around the third and final ...

The City of Brass Review

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty is the first in The Daevabad Trilogy. This is a good one folks. Sometimes, it can be as simple as just that but alas, I...

The Occurrence Review

Occurrence by Robert Desiderio is a modern day political/sci-fi thriller. Browsing for my next read, I saw this popped up as one of the top recommendations o...

Exhalation: Stories Review

Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang is a collection of short thought provoking sci-fi stories. Each story explores a different theme but ultimately, it begs th...

Heroes Wanted: A Fantasy Anthology Review

Heroes Wanted: A Fantasy Anthology is a collection of short stories by a group of fantasy authors on what it takes to be a hero from their perspective. Being...

Th1rt3en Review

Thirteen by Steve Cavanaugh is Book 3 in the Eddie Flynn series. I’ve read high praises for this book and it was high time I read another courtroom drama. Th...

Death’s End Review

Death’s End by Cixin Liu is the final book in the Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy. In a series that got extremely popular due it making it on President O...

The Lords of Emperors Review

The Lord of Emperors by Guy Gavriel Kay is the follow up to Sailing to Sarantium. I was thrilled after having read book one and book two here is every bit en...

2019

Sailing to Sarantium Review

Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay is the first book in the Sarantium Mosaic duo-logy series. This author by now is a legend in my opinion. I’ve read so...

When Books Went to War Review

When Books Went to War by Molly Manning is a very special story that I don’t ever recalling during my limited research of World War II. Like many other casua...

Foreigner Review

Foreigner by C.J. Cherryh is the first book in the Foreigner series. This series came highly recommended from a friend and I couldn’t wait to read it. After ...

A Brightness Long Ago Review

A Brightness Long Ago by Guy Gavriel Kay is a beautiful novel about choices and how it comes to define who we are. Yes, it’s another one of those novels but ...

The Dragonbone Chair Review

The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams is the first book in the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series. I had no idea how popular this series was until just recently...

Children of Time Review

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky is the first book of two in his Children of Time series. To get right to the chase, Children of Time is a very good re...

The Fall of the Roman Empire Review

The Fall of the Roman Empire by Peter Heather details the incredible downfall and collapse of the once thought of invincible Romans. There are always three s...

Circe Review

Circe by Madeline Miller is the retelling of a classic story of the mythical goddess named Circe. Most of us know of Circe from the The Odyssey which is anot...

The Haunting of Tram Car 015 Review

Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djeli Clark is a short steampunk fantasy novella based in ancient Cairo, Egypt. I’ve got to admit that I wasn’t much attracted...

The Crusades Review

The Crusades by Thomas Asbridge claims to be the authoritative book on the war for the Holy Land. It’s a pretty bold claim but since I know almost nothing on...

The Priory of the Orange Tree Review

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon is an fantasy epic novel that has pretty much everything you’d expect. Things like dragons, pirates, prince...

Blind Man’s Bluff Review

Blind Man’s Bluff by Sherry Sontag, Christopher Drew and Annette Lawrence Drew is a retelling of true events and stories that happened after World War II reg...

The Rig Review

The Rig by Roger Levy is a science fiction novel set in the future where Earth has been abandoned and faith/religion has been extinct and no longer practiced...

2018

The Poppy War Review

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang is the first book in the trilogy as well as marking this her debut book. As usual, I needed to find inspiration for my next read ...

Docker Deep Dive Review

Docker Deep Dive by Nigel Poulton is one of the more popular books on teaching users about creating and managing Docker containers. I’ve been mystified by co...

The Fourth Monkey Review

The Fourth Monkey by J.D. Barker is the first book of two in his 4MK series. I was stuck for nearly three hours servicing my car at a dealership and I needed...

Augustus: The Life of Rome’s First Emperor Review

Augustus: The Life of Rome’s First Emperor by Anthony Everitt details the life of one of Rome’s longest ruling emperor. This obviously is no small accomplish...

Julius Caesar Review

Julius Caesar by Philip Freeman is the historical biography of one of the most important figure in ancient history. Similar to Alexander the Great, which I h...

Alexander the Great Review

Alexander the Great by Philip Freeman is a biographical novel that details the life of one of the greatest king and military tactician that has ever lived th...

I, Claudius Review

I, Claudius by Robert Graves is a biographical fiction novel based on the account of Claudius during the infamous ancient Roman period. As usual, I was looki...

Semiosis Review

Semiosis by Sue Burke is a fictional science fiction novel based on what would happen when humans decides to colonize and start new life on a planet only to ...

The Dark Forest Review

The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu is the second book in his Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy. The Three Body Problem was a huge success and it was such a blast...

Child of a Mad God Review

Child of a Mad God by R.A. Salvatore is the first fantasy book in his brand new Coven series. The author holds a very special place in the fantasy world to m...

Senlin Ascends Review

Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft is a steampunk fantasy series that initially caught my attention simply because of Mark Lawrence, author of The Broken Empi...

The Three Body Problem Review

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu is a science fiction novel that tells the story of what would happen if humanity suddenly has the ability to communicate ...

2017

Culn Review

Culn: Tales of Culn by James Lutze is a tale about one man’s journey to survive via any means necessary in a brutal and harsh fantasy setting. This book was ...

A River of Darkness Review

A River of Darkness by Masaji Ishikawa details the horror one man had to go through in order to survive the clutches of the North Korean regime. It’s a bruta...

Artemis Review

Artemis by Andy Weir is a novel that takes place on the moon and quite frankly, will definitely remind you of a story that you may have read somewhere before...

The Honest Spy Review

The Honest Spy by Andreas Kollender is a historical fiction work that focuses on one of the most popular spy in the World War II era. Since I’m still so fas...

Imajica Review

Imajica by Clive Barker is a novel that includes everything from mysterious creatures, romances, betrayal, out of body experiences, assassins and murderers t...

The Ocean at the End of the Lane Review

The Ocean At the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman is my first attempt into dissecting the mind of this ever so popular author. Therefore, it made sense for me ...

Prince of Fools Review

Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence is the first book of The Red Queen’s War trilogy set. If anything, this author knows how to go against the grain and write s...

The Pillars of the Earth Review

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet is an ambitious fictional novel that spans the course of almost a person’s lifetime when all is said and done. In fact, I ...

The Diamond Throne Review

The Diamond Throne by David Eddings is the first of three in his Elenium series. Published in the 90s, I’ve read that this series has been heralded as a clas...

Good Morning, Midnight Review

Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton is a stand-alone science fiction novel that, although can be considered dystopian or post-apocalyptic by some, r...

Talion: Revenant Review

Talion: Revenant by Michale A. Stackpole is a standalone fantasy book. There will always be times when a person can take so much of something before being fo...

2016

Fall of Light Review

Fall of Light by Steven Erikson is the second book in his Kharkanas Trilogy set. It might be a fault of mine by diving straight into Fall of Light after havi...

Forge of Darkness Review

Forge of Darkness by Steven Erikson is the first of The Kharkanas Trilogy set. Just what have I gotten myself into? To summarize, I was never a fan of the Ma...

The Fifth Season Review

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin is the first of her Broken Earth series. If you didn’t know by now, this book is the winner of the 2016 Hugo Award, somethin...

The Short Drop Review

The Short Drop by Matthew Fitzsimmons is one of those books that got pretty popular with thousands of reviews on Amazon yet I have no idea how. It’s really ...

Mists of Avalon Review

Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley is the Arthurian legend retold in its full glory but this time around, it’s told through the eyes of the women behin...

Weavers of War Review

Weavers of War by David B. Coe is the fifth and final book in the Winds of the Forelands series. It’s been a long journey but finally, I made it to the end. ...

2015

Shapers of Darkness Review

Shapers of Darkness by David B. Coe is the fourth book in the Winds of the Forelands series. After being disappointed with Bonds of Vengeance, I am happy to ...

Bonds of Vengeance Review

Bonds of Vengeance by David B. Coe is the third book in the Winds of Forelands series.I’ll be upfront with everyone right now. I’m disappointed. I expected t...

Seeds of Betrayal Review

Seeds of Betrayal by David B. Coe is book two in the Winds of the Forelands series. Truth be told, there aren’t much book series where I immediately start th...

Rules of Ascension Review

Rules of Ascension by David Coe is the first book in his Winds of Forlands series. This is one of the few political fantasy series I’ve tried and it absolute...

Daughter of the Empire Review

Daughter of the Empire by Raymond Feist and Janny Wursts is the first book in The Empire Trilogy. If you found yourself entranced after having read The Game ...

Eye of the Needle Review

Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett is my introduction to the popular British author. Having been recommended to read The Pillars of the Earth due to my interes...

14 Review

14 by Peter Clines is an apocalyptic mystery set in the modern world that revolves around an underachieving protagonist and his buddy friends trying to decip...

The Alien Chronicles Review

The Alien Chronicles is an anthology composed of various authors in the sci-fi genre. Needing a break from the traditional novels/series that’s well over 400...

The Wind Through the Keyhole Review

The Wind Through the Keyhole can be considered a stand-alone novel/story in the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. I believe this was published after the ser...

Sub-Human Review

Sub-Human by David Simpson is the first book in the Post-Human series. It is actually the prequel and although the author mentions that it is not a requireme...

The Grace of Kings Review

The Grace of Kings by Ken Lui is the first book in the Dandelion series. It is an epic fantasy that pretty much rolls a whole lot of everything into one. Do ...

Steelheart Review

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson is the first in the Reckoner’s series. I’m sure many reviewers have commented that it could almost be read as a textual comic...

The Windup Girl Review

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi is one of those stories that you read, find it kind of boring in the beginning, manage to read some more and eventually, ...

2014

The Goblin Emperor Review

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison is a magical tale about what life would be like if you take an unsuspecting goblin and make him the emperor of the la...

Pines Review

Pines by Blake Crouch is the first book in the Wayward Pines trilogy set. The book seemed interesting at first glance and it will be made into an episodic TV...

The End of Diabetes Review

The End of Diabetes by Joel Fuhrman is a book about reversing diabetes for people who have it along with information on how to prevent it for those who don’t...

Old Man’s War

Old Man’s War by John Scalzi is the first in this military sci-fi series. It’s surprisingly good and you don’t have to a be sci-fi junkie to get the most of ...

Endymion Review

Endymion by Dan Simmons is the third book in the Hyperion Cantos series. To say that I am disappointed in this book is a huge understatement. In fact, it sad...

Fall of Hyperion Review

The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons is the follow up to Hyperion. Let’s get this out of the way right now. If you read the first, then you should already kno...

Hyperion Review

Hyperion by Dan Simmons is the first book in the Hyperion Cantos series and folks, its a good one! I’ve always been looking for a good sci-fi book that deals...

Angels and Demons Review

Angels & Demons by Dan Brown is the second installment in the Robert Langdon saga. After having literally breezing through The Da Vinci Code, I felt it w...

Words of Radiance Review

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson is the second installment in the Stormlight Archive. Finally, and I mean finally it is here! The Way of Kings was one ...

Under Heaven Review

Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay is a beautifully written story that takes place during the Tang Dynasty of China. In what I initially thought was suppose to ...

Sand Omnibus Review

Sand Omnibus is the next science fiction work by Huge Howey, who is smoking hot right now after his insanely popular Silo Saga. Will the author be able to av...

Command Authority Review

Command Authority by Tom Clancy and Mark Greaney is the latest and most likely the last installment in the Jack Ryan series. It really needs no introduction....

2013

The Book Thief Review

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is suppose to be one of those rare book that comes along every so often and change your outlook on life. It’s sad, depressing ...

Legion Review

Legion by Brandon Sanderson is a quick yet fun novella by one of the premier fantasy authors of our time. When reviewers say quick, you can expect to plow th...

Shift Omnibus Review

Shift Omnibus by Huge Howey is the second series of the Silo Saga. I have to admit that Wool Omnibus is miles better than Shift Omnibus. Shift takes us back ...

The Remaining: Fractured Review

Fractured by D.J. Molles is the fourth installment to his ever so popular ‘The Remaining’ series. I’m not a hardcore zombie fanatic like others and so this b...

Leviathan Wakes Review

Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey is the first book in his Expanse series. By all definition, Leviathan Wakes is a space opera. You will be spending a lot ...

Different Seasons Review

Different Seasons by Stephen King consists of four short (or long, depending on how you look at it) novellas that each conveys a different message and elicit...

Promise of Blood Review

Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan is the first book in his Powder Mage trilogy series. I was quite surprised to learn that the author studied writing under...

The Rithmatist Review

The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson is a fantasy book geared toward mainly young adults. Sometimes, we as readers really have to ask ourselves just how the h...

Dune Messiah Review

Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert is the second book in the Dune series. I’ve written high praises for Dune and I immediately followed up with the sequel. Here t...

Dune Review

Dune by Frank Herbert is considered by many to be one of the greatest science fiction series in existence today. I admit that it took me two tries to finish ...

1984 Review

1984 by George Orwell is a classic literature that depicts a world where the government is constantly in control of people’s lives and are in constant monito...

Da Vinci Code Review

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown is an international best seller that deals with a major cover up by the Christian church that spans thousands and thousands of...

The Daylight War Review

The Daylight War by Peter Brett is the third book in The Demon Cycle series. When The Warded Man first came out, it took a lot of people by surprise. It was ...

Breakdown Review

Breakdown by Katherine Amt Hanna is a story about what happens to some survivors after a major pandemic has taken the world by storm. Does this story takes p...

Threat Vector Review

Threat Vector by Tom Clancy and Mark Greaney is another Jack Ryan novel. If you have read the author’s previous novels before, than I’m sure you don’t need m...

Blood Song Review

Blood Song by Anthony Ryan is currently one of the highest rated and new I might add, fantasy book on Amazon. At the moment of this review, the book has mana...

Best Served Cold Review

Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie is a story about revenge and boy does the author reiterate that point every chapter so best get use to that word. The aut...

The Remaining: Refugees Review

The Remaining: Refugees by D.J. Molles is the third book in The Remaining series. I’m not an author by any means but I have read hundreds and hundreds of boo...

The Remaining: Aftermath Review

The Remaining: Aftermath by D.J. Molles is the second book in The Remaining series. Picking up right after the end of book 1, The Remaining, Captain Lee Hard...

2012

The Middle Kingdom Review

The Middle Kingdom by David Wingrove is the third book out of twenty in the Chung Kuo series. If political intrigue and betrayal set in a futuristic world wh...

The Remaining Review

The Remaining by D.J. Molles is the first book in the Remaining series. This post apocalyptic zombie thriller will surely have you staying up well past your ...

The Hunt for Red October Review

The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy is a story based on submarine warfare. Yes I know, I’m supremely late to the party but better late than never, right? ...

Molly Fyde and the Parsona Rescue Review

Molly Fyde and the Parsona Rescue by Huge Howey is the first book of four in the Bern Saga. I’ve come to know the author by reading his Wool series and was h...

The Twelve Review

The Twelve by Justin Cronin is the second book in The Passage trilogy series. If you’ve read The Passage, then you should have an idea of where things are he...

Wool Omnibus Review

Wool: Omnibus Edition by Huge Howey is a light sci-fi series that actually combines all 5 books in the series into this one volume. If you’re like me who did...

Wizard and Glass Review

Wizard and Glass by Stephen King is the fourth book in the Dark Tower series. If you’ve read up to this point, then you should be familiar with Roland and hi...

Trust Your Eyes Review

Trust Your Eyes by Linwood Barclay is a suspense thriller about a man with psychological issues witnessing an murder attempt on a popular map website. Due to...

I Am Legend Review

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson is a book about a lone human survivor in a world populated with disease stricken vampires. I’m sure many people did not hear ...

The King of Thorns Review

King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence is the second book in the Broken Empire series. I loved the first book and was patiently waiting for this release. Finally, b...

A Sliver of Redemption Review

A Sliver of Redemption by David Dalglish is the fifth and final book in his Half-Orcs series. Finally, after having read the previous four books, things come...

The Shadows of Grace Review

The Shadows of Grace by David Dalglish is the fourth book in the Half-Orcs series. I’m glad to see that the author got back on track with this book. With Dea...

Throne of the Crescent Moon Review

Throne of the Crescent Moon is the debut from Saladin Ahmed detailing an adventure of monsters, magics and a swordplay. It is the first book in The Crescent ...

The Death of Promises Review

The Death of Promises by David Dalglish is the third book in the Half-Orcs series. If you’ve been following the series since book one, then you should alread...

The Cost of Betrayal Review

The Cost of Betrayal by David Dalglish is the second book in the Half-Orcs series. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book but this one just really sealed the de...

The Weight of Blood Review

The Weight of Blood by David Dalglish is the first in his Half-Orcs series. I’m no stranger to the author as I’ve read all three of his previous books in the...

The Waste Lands Review

The Waste Lands by Stephen King is the third book in the Darktower series. I admit that I initially wanted to give up on the series because the first book wa...

The Drawing of the Three Review

The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King is the second book in the Dark Tower series. After having read The Gunslinger, I was not that impressed with how the...

The Gunslinger Review

The Gunslinger by Stephen King is the first book of his popular Dark Tower series. I believe at the moment there is a total of eight books that contribute to...

A Dance of Death Review

A Dance of Death by David Dalglish is the third and final book in the Shadowdance Trilogy. After blazing through the other two books, things finally come to ...

A Dance of Blades Review

A Dance of Blades by David Dalglish is the second book of the Shadowdance Trilogy. After completing A Dance of Cloak, I debated whether to continue with the ...

A Dance of Cloaks Review

A Dance of Cloaks by David Dalglish is a fantasy book about thieves and assassins and is the first of the Shadow Dance trilogy. Boy, is this book an underrat...

The Mongoliad Review

The Mongoliad: Book One, written by seven authors altogether, depicts an adventure set in the 13th century about war and the devastation laid to the world by...

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich Review

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer is one of the most interesting historical book I have ever read in my life. In my high school days,...

The Knife Of Never Letting Go Review

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness is a book with a very intriguing sell: there are no women left in the world and all the men can actually hear a...

Defending Jacob Review

Defending Jacob by William Landay is at the time of this review, one of the best sellers in the market. How do certain books make it to the top of the best s...

The Stand Review

The Stand by Stephen King is hailed by many to be one of the author’s most finest work. Of course, when you write as many novels as Mr. King did in his caree...

Percepliquis Review

Percepliquis by Michael Sullivan is the sixth and final book in the Riyria Revelation series and its definitely a winner! After following the characters and ...

Wintertide Review

Wintertide by Michael Sullivan is the fifth book in the Riyria Revelation series. I have to say that Wintertide is a whole of a lot better than the previous ...

The Emerald Storm Review

The Emerald Storm by Michael Sullivan is the fourth book in the Riyria Revelation series. Sad to say it but this book is by far the weakest in the series so ...

Nyphron Rising Review

Nyphron Rising by Michael Sullivan is the third book in the Riyria Revelation series. In the last book, Avempartha, I was annoyed at Arista as a character an...

Avempartha Review

Avempartha by Michael Sullivan is the second book in the Riyria Revelation series. It is a follow up to The Crown Conspiracy, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Ave...

The Crown Conspiracy Review

The Crown Conspiracy by Michael Sullivan is the first of six in the Riyria Revelation series. It talks about two thieves framed for the murder of the King. W...

Among Thieves Review

Among Thieves by Douglas Hulick is the first entry in the Tale of Kin fantasy series. Being a new author, I’m sure there are a ton of pressure to make a good...

The Emperor’s Knife Review

The Emperor’s Knife by Mazarkis Williams is the first book in the Tower and Knife trilogy. Now, I’ve always believed that assassins in a fantasy setting goes...